• Grazing and pasture

Grazing systems and pasture condition

This document outlines the necessity of formulating development policies specifically targeted at pastoralists and their livelihoods. The author reports that pastoralists have generally been ill-served by development policies and actions because of myths suggesting that pastoralists were 'backward'. Previous policies focused on changing pastoralists into something more ‘modern' or progressive. Fortunately, many of these policies are now changing and consider ways to flexibly develop policies that address the needs of pastoralists.

Some of the myths and misunderstandings that informed previous development policies towards pastoralists include:

• nomadic pastoralism is an archaic form of production, whose time has passed
• mobility is inherently backward, unnecessary, chaotic and disruptive
• pastoralists do not take care of the land because of the 'tragedy of the commons'
• pastoralists contribute little to national economic activity
• pastoralism is a very low productive system. Sedentary cattle raising is more productive than mobile systems
• pastoralists need to settle to benefit from servicesThe authors suggest that a more realistic vision of future pastoralism envisages a flourishing economy, with well-educated and successful pastoral producers, no longer marginalised from mainstream society. In order to fulfil this, new policies need to address:
  • the basic structure of the pastoral economy: a ranching model will not be successful
  • pastoral population growth: in many cases an overflow channel for herders who want to leave pastoralism is needed, so that pastoral populations can regain flexibility in relation to the natural resources that sustain them; also important is the diversification and processing or production of secondary products within pastoralist areas
  • managing land use and natural resources to give priority to pastoralism where that is justified
  • improving natural resource tenure to remove present ambiguities and strengthen corporate tenure
  • improving pastoral productivity
  • providing more efficient markets, and encouraging pastoralists to identify and produce for particular markets
  • providing services including education and health, often through a mix of mobile and static facilities
  • providing financial services such as credit, savings, hire purchase and insurance, in forms adapted to a nomadic lifestyle
  • developing risk management plans (including emergency relief policies that do not undermine local resource use and sustainability) and ways to reduce conflict
  • improving pastoral governance and strengthening of pastoralist civil society.
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